Cutting a mandala is both meditative and and a design journey. The process of cutting intricate designs, slows the mind down to focusing on what is at hand. It is a design journey calling the artist to travel the process without knowing the ultimate destination. The artist must be willing to improvise solutions while allowing serendipity to guide the way.
Click on an image to enlarge and start a slide show.
What follows is a very brief overview of how Debra creates some of her mandalas.
Fold as you would to make a snowflake 
Use scissors to cut away shapes. 
Keep cutting to create interesting shapes of paper and empty area shapes. 
One technique is to keep cutting until there are areas so small that to continue will cause the paper to fall apart. 
Another technique is switch to a craft knife to continue cutting
Debra A. Collins 